Monday, July 16, 2012

If not, the idea is to take paper muffin cup liners, punch a hole in the middle, and insert a straw. It looks cute and keeps the bugs out. Well, I decided to take it a step further and make them reusable, like so.

Here is what I did:
First I cut out a circle of fabric that would be big enough to fit on top of a mason jar. I made it big enough to fit a wide mouth jar.
Next I decided that cutting out a bunch of circles free hand was a ridiculous thing to ask of myself since I can't cut very straight. So I took that first "circle" that I made and folded it in half and then half again so it looked like a pie wedge. Then I traced it on some thin cardboard that I had to make a template for the rest of the circles. All I had to do then was get a square of fabric, fold in fourths and then use the template to cut out the circle. Sorry there are no pics of that, but you are smart and you can figure it out....right?
After I had a nice stack of different fabric circles I broke out my eyelet kit and added a eyelet to the center of each circle. Tip: fold in fourths again and slightly snip off the point. That will be your center hole for the grommet. I don't know the exact size on the package because I cut that part off for some reason, but I measured the hole and it is 1/4 inch across. Big enough for the straws I have on hand. Here is what it looks like on some retro fabric I had.

Next I used my pinking blade on my rotary cutter to pink the edges. This will allow me to wash them after they are used and they won't fray.

Next, just take off the seal of a canning jar and screw on the ring. Now you have your own reusable drink covers. I made them all in different fabrics so that they could also be used to mark which drink is yours. You could just allow guests to choose which fabric they like so they will remember which is theirs.

I just used random fabrics and they really aren't what one would call pretty together. If you like you can get a pack of fat quarters. Usually they coordinate with each other. I just wanted to use what I had.
Now all I need to do is have an outdoor party to put them to use, but its too dang hot out here in Atlanta!

Update: I was in Hobby Lobby and found some packs of charm square fabric. They were about 4-5 inch squares and all the edges were already pinked. So, you could leave them square and all you would have to do is add a grommet in the middle. Super fast and easy. Plus the fabrics all coordinated together.